Never Forgiven Nor Forgotten
by Karissagrace
Summary: "You really did try to help Carol when everyone else gave up on Sophia. Carol knows that. I know that. Sam and I were just saying that we knew how much you cared about that girl and her mother so much that you would risk your life to find her." Dean decides to confront Daryl about Sophia and Carol. Set during Nebraska. Can go hand in hand with The Curse of the Living.


_Spoilers_

_TWD 2x7 Pretty Much Dead Already_

_Season 2 SPN_

_AN: it was really hard to edit this on my iPhone so there may be grammar mistakes/spelling errors. I'll try to fix those asap_

_This goes hand in hand with my other TWD+SPN fanfic The Curse of the Living. It's not necessary to read it but if you wanted to check it out then go for it._

_There is no slash in here but I do think Daryl and Dean would be good friends and make a very good team._

_Warnings: Language since this is two men talking about the screwed up world they live in_

* * *

_"You can't save everyone, my friend... though you try."_

_~Castiel, A Little Slice of Kevin_

* * *

Dean watched as Sam looked over at Carol and Daryl. Daryl stomped away from the patch of flowers, leaving a heartbroken Carol to violently pull the Cherokee Roses out of the ground. Sam glanced over at Dean.

"I should go talk to her."

"Yeah you go do that." Dean replied. While talking to little kids and helping them came easy for Dean, Sam tended to be better at talking to adults. He watched as his little brother hesitantly walked over to Carol. Dean hoped that Sam could help Carol avoid the dark path of despair. Meanwhile, Daryl was walking away from Carol, a scowl on his face.

"I wasted my time looking for that damn rug-rat only to find her in that damn barn long gone and the one thing we all might end up as- a fucking Walker. That's just fucked up and a waste of goddamn time." He said to no one in particular as he passed Dean.

"Woah woah woah, hold your horses cowboy." Dean said as he stepped in front of Daryl.

"Get the fuck out of my way."

Dean knew Daryl could pick up a fight with him if he wanted to and either one of them could win, but Dean wanted to keep the confrontation at a minimum.

"Listen Daryl I know you're upset about Sophia, but you need to chill." Daryl scoffed.

"I need to chill?"

_Oh crap._

"Well it's just that you should calm down-"

"Calm down!"

_Shit._

Dean wanted to avoid pissing Daryl off but it was probably too late for that.

"I've been beaten, almost eaten alive, shot at by Andrea, and wasted time looking for Sophia. It all amount to shit!" Daryl snapped. Dean couldn't blame him. He would feel the same if he himself spent weeks looking for a little girl that was probably dead the first hour she disappeared. But Dean knew he needed to let Daryl know how he and Carol truly felt.

_Time to put my socilizing skills to the test._

"But that wasn't all for nothing! Look man I get it. I'd be pretty P.O'd too if I suffered the same way you did only to find out she was dead but you can't think of it as a waste of time. You really did try to help Carol when everyone else gave up on Sophia. Carol knows that. I know that. Sam and I were just saying that we knew how much you cared about that girl and her mother so much that you would risk your life to find her. We all know that. And I'm pretty sure I'm right when I say that Carol appreciates what you did for her."

"Then how the hell did it help anyone else around here? Shane was right when he said it was just a waste of time." Daryl snapped back. Dean thought about it for a minute before coming up with a good answer.

"It showed us something valuable."

"Really like what?!" Daryl was getting tired of Dean's shit. He just wanted to go back to the camp he set up, cook that squirrel he caught on his last hunt for dinner, and get as much shut eye as he can in this screwed up world.

"It shows that there's faith in humanity. It shows that we can trust you. Hell, I trust you more than I trust those two damn police officers. Especially Shane. He doesn't seem to be a very loyal man. Every man for himself kind of guy. If I had to choose anyone in this messed up group I'd choose you to have my back in a fight. Not just because you're good at it, but I can trust you to not literally backstab me or use me as zombie bait."

"You only know the apocalypse version of me. You don't know the real me." Daryl said. Dean smiled at that.

"In case you haven't noticed, everyone's true colors are showing in this crazy world. Shane is showing his dark side and how far he'd go to save his own life. You saw how he acted when he came back without Otis. He obviously used the man as zombie bait. Somewhere deep down we all knew he would have done soemthing like that in the real world if he was desperate enough."

"The bravery Carl has was something he always had, he just didn't know it. Glenn rescued Rick, a man he never met, from Walkers when he could have just abandoned him. He didn't have to save him, but that's not who he is. You literally have almost nothing to lose. Just your family and friends. You will do anything to protect them, even if it means killing an old friend who went crazy or your son who got bit or whatever. You showed that even with all this shit happening, you'll risk your life to save a little girl. When everyone else said it was useless and time consuming, you still looked. You didn't have to do it, but you did."

"Yeah but-" Dean held up his hands, stopping Daryl from continuing

"I swear to whatever I still believe in that if you end that sentence with something like 'it was all for nothing' then I'll punch you so hard you'll know how a Walker feels when you shoot it's brain."

Daryl couldn't help but smile at that one. _Feisty man ain't he? _

"So do you trust anyone else other than me and your brother?" Daryl looked back at Sam, who was holding Carol as she still cried for her daughter.

"Well, Glenn seems reliable and helpful. He knows his ways around towns and helps us a lot. And Dale kinda reminds me of Sammy." Dean glanced at Sam, still holding Carol. "They both want to prove that with all the crap going on, there still is hope in humanity. Even before the apocalypse crap, Sam would try to help everyone we came across that he thought we could help."

"Like what?" Daryl already knew about the 'family business' the Winchester brothers and many other people around the world do. He knew that Sam would want to help creatures as well as people.

"Well there was this girl, Madison, who was scratched by a werewolf so she became one. Sam and I thought we saved her and that she wasn't a werewolf anymore but it turns out we were wrong. She wanted us to kill her before she hurt anyone else, but Sam wanted to find another way to save her. Eventually Sam realized we couldn't save her so he had to shoot her." Dean could still picture the pained look on Sam's face before he killed Madison. Dean offered to do it, spare Sam the pain, but Sam said he needed to do it.

"We tried to save her, but we had no other choices than the inevitable. I have a friend, the Angel with the trench-coat, Castiel who once said to me 'you can't save everyone my friend, though you try'. You know you can't save everyone, especially in this mess, but it's better than not trying." Dean sighed as he saw Sam look over at him and nod. Carol was leaning on Sam's shoulder, her body trembling from the sobs but it wasn't as bad as before.

_"_We should head back to camp before the others start to worry about us."

Daryl nodded as he and Dean walked towards the Green's house. Daryl stopped halfway there, pulling Dean by the arm to stop him.

"What?"

"If you tell anyone about this chick flick moment as you like to call it, I'll kick your ass."

Dean smiled a little at Daryl's threat knowing the youngest Dixon would be more than happy to fulfill his promise.

"Well I could always blackmail you with it if I wanted to." Dean replied and lightly shoved Daryl, earning a warning glare from him.

"Touch me and die."

"Touché." Dean smirked. The rest of the walk was silent, both men pondering over their conversation. The thing that stuck with Daryl the most was the quote from Dean's friend.

_"You can't save everyone my friend... though you try."_

Well he did try and he didn't save her.

He just wants to rest and let these last few weeks of torture and pain and exhaustion be forgotten.

But nothing can ever be forgotten.

Especially the failure of finding Sophia safe and healthy when instead she was dead a long time ago. That Walker wasn't Sophia. It was the shell of what she once was. It mocked the group, the haunting image of the twelve year old imprinted in everyone's mind for the rest of their lives.

It just served as the reminder that he had failed both her and Carol.

And that is something that deep down, Daryl Dixon will never forgive himself for.


End file.
